Hyannis needs a great boat shop to keep our harbors full of pretty boats, and to keep people like me busy.

My name is Steven J. Scannell of Baybridge Clubhouse Hyannis, formerly of Nantucket, and a Harwich native Cape Codder. I've had a career working on the water, as a commercial fisherman, and as a boat builder. Also, I've had a smattering of care giving, and various trades, such as most Cape Cod fishermen.

What would we as a community say to a "consortium-developed community boat shop" that would build a boat useful to the Cape and Islands (and vicinity) ports? What should or would we construct? Personally, I have in mind a 34-foot schooner-rigged wood vessel, with a centerboard. This boat I call the AL-34, which would be a horrendous corruption of Nathanael G. Herreshoff’s 26' Alerion, designed in 1912. The much-revered Alerion is one of the most famous sailboats of all time, which we built on Nantucket, to the highest yacht-quality standards.

The AL-34 would not suggest a resemblance to the Alerion, save that it could be a starting point for a totally new multi-use, Cape Cod-designed vessel. First, she must be good looking, somewhat. But she needn't be of high Bristol fashion yacht qualities, as she may be used to tub trawl cod, if there are any to be had, and to run crowded charters run by our high school captains course graduates. But the question of design is, of course, open.

In theory the kids could help build the boats, in exchange for their use as charter vessels, in order to pay for college. On Nantucket we built our high-class Alerions using the West System technique, which is laminated wood with epoxy. I prefer this method for wooden boat construction because it is quality, but also labor intensive, with the emphasis on grunt labor doing the lay up work for the hull, bulkheads, decks, and the various other small boat parts. Keel/centerboard would be glass, and of course key would be expertise in the design, and the quality of the jigs and the process.

Perhaps some of the various saltier local folks could push the front end here, and set up a good shop. I can help with this, but there are some true wizards who would be best suited to the naval architecture and engineering brainwork.

In any case, as an option to being purged from Main Street, many of us bums would appreciate a legitimate place to be, just so we can say, "I earned my dinner." A "boat builders consortium" would be comprised of marine trades people, social workers, Cape Cod and Islands towns, maybe SE Massachusetts, and private individuals and companies; the broader the participation the better. The emphasis may be on a captains course for high schools in our region, all the while putting bums like me to the task as the icing on the cake.

Let's start a well-rounded working group. We can brainstorm the idea, and make it a complete community effort, and then go from there. I hang out at Baybridge Clubhouse, which is next to the Sunnyside Restaurant, downtown by the transportation center.

The writer can be reached at 508-360-1926 or
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